King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

366

“Adrik

Once Viktor and Ivan returned, I brought up the subject of my father’s men with Aleksei. Sephie had Vitaliy’s attention, along with most of the guys” attention, in her usual entertaining way.

“The two new guys. What kind of training do they have?” I asked Aleksei.

“Not quite the same as what I’d like, but it’s difficult to find someone with that kind of training these days. People are getting soft,” he said, half- disgusted. “I’ve been trying to work on their training to get them up to speed, but they complain. Never in front of Vitaliy, though. They’re at least

that smart.”

I thought for a few minutes. It might be a good idea to have Misha and Andrei put them in their places, after all. I explained the situation to Aleksei. “They’re disrespectful of my men. I would like to remind them of their place. If Sephie were completely healed, I would consider letting her loose on them. She’s arguably more pi ssed about this than I am,” I said.

Aleksei laughed. “She’s just as protective of your men as they are of her, then?”

I nodded. “You should see her go from zero to rage in a split second if someone takes the wrong tone with one of us.”

“I would actually like to see that, now that you mention it,” he said, thoughtfully. “What do you propose for the little flowers?”

“I’d like for Misha and Andrei to teach them a lesson, since they seem to want to target those two. They’re both lethal, Andrei even more so since he started training Sephie. It’s seemed to sharpen him up considerably,” I said.

“Teaching is always a good tool. It forces you to stay ahead of the student. I saw her at your father’s house. He’s working hard to stay ahead of her.”

“That was nothing. She’s still at maybe 60% of what she was before she was taken. Armando really did a number on her. The only reason I didn’t ki ll him right then was because her lung collapsed and she couldn’t breathe,” I said.

“They were able to pull you off him?” he asked, surprised.

back and told me she needed

with her.”

breath. “I’ve never seen you stop.

it, but I can’t live

“We will train with you. It’s good to spar with new partners. We haven’t had anyone new in a while. I’m guessing your guys haven’t either. Misha and Andrei will get their chance

with Aleksei. She found a moment to step away from everyone else and walked to us. Aleksei’s face softened when she smiled at him as she tucked herself into my side. “You two are scheming without me, aren’t you?” she said, grinning at both of us.

Wonder Twins will get their chance for a much-needed attitude adjustment in

them right for not wanting to further their

but said, “let’s hope it turns out better than the last time.” She said it quietly enough that Aleksei didn’t hear her, but I did. I pulled her in front of me, wrapping both my arms around her shoulders as she hid her face in my chest. I knew she was okay with what happened with Mike, for the most part, but she still had days where she struggled with it. Even though she did the right thing,

mood shift as well. Surprisingly, both Misha and Andrei also turned to check on her at almost the same time that Ivan did. That’s new. She held onto me

of what’s going on with his men.” I looked at Aleksei. “Do you want to keep him in the dark or let

They have big shoes

Sephie. “Then we can tell them now,” I said,

Ivan, too,” she said. She hadn’t taken her eyes off me

know that,

just did,” she

“New level unlocked,” I

to Ivan in the kitchen as we walked back to everyone. Sephie walked between Andrei and Misha, hooking her arms

to me. Everyone else got quiet, as Viktor and Stephen had heard her as well. Andrei looked nervous again. Poor kid was overwhelmed with everything going on. I was surprised with how well Misha was handling everything. I think he’d had more practice at it than Andrei. Everything was so new for Andrei and he wasn’t sure what to

at Andrei’s expression. “We know you

check on her. That helped me figure out what it was. Then when she disappeared for a while, I felt her get startled, but then it was like she was all over the place, then nothing. That’s when Misha noticed it, too. That’s

it happened

really nervous. We could both feel it earlier when she walked from your office